placed my hand on the side of my face to suppress the sting
of her blow.
My uncle grabbed Auntie by her shoulders with both of his hands.
“Calm down, honey, before you have another attack.”
Totally ignoring him, she broke away from his grip and took two
more steps toward me, her finger pointing directly at me. “You are going to get
what’s coming to you! Now you mark my words, sweetie! Your time is coming, and ain’t
nobody gonna be around to help you. Remember, everybody you used to deal with is
dead! You are the only one left standing and breathing. Now I wonder why that is.”
“Come on, honey, that’s enough. We have to go!” my uncle told
her.
“No, I’m not leaving until she tells me why everybody around
her is dying.”
I put my head down and walked away. She was on a rampage, and
I wasn’t about to let her make a spectacle of me, especially with all the cops
hanging around. And now that I thought about it, it wouldn’t surprise me if she
was trying to set me up with all the fucking questions she was asking me. I was
hip to her games. I wasn’t that green. I had plenty of sense, whether or not she
believed it.
I immediately exhaled when I exited the police precinct. With
my carry-on bag and purse in hand, I walked straight down the boulevard, waiting
for the next taxi to drive by so I could hop in. The sun was beaming down on me.
It had to be every bit of one hundred degrees out here, and the humidity was even
worse. At times, it felt like I couldn’t breathe, but I kept walking.
In the distance, I heard my name called. I looked behind me and
saw that it was my uncle running toward me. I stopped in my tracks and waited for
him to approach me. Out of breath, he panted a little as he stopped before me. He
immediately pressed his left hand against his chest.
“Are you all right?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes, I’m fine. I just need to take a breather.”
I grabbed him by his arm. “Take your time.”
He took three deep breaths and then exhaled. “Look, I can’t stay
long. I just ran down here to apologize to you for the way my wife spoke to you.”
“No, Uncle Lanier, you didn’t have to do that.”
“Listen, I know a lot of shit has happened, but I am not about
to let that come between you and me. We are blood, and don’t you ever forget that.”
“I won’t,” I said, getting choked up.
He embraced me, so I hugged him back and wrapped my arms around
him as tightly as I could. I realized at that point that he was the only living
relative I had left. And to hear him tell me that he wouldn’t let anyone come between
us really made me feel some kind of way. I knew he had a genuine love for me, so
that was all that mattered.
Right before he let me go, he looked into my eyes as if searching
for something. It felt like he could see right through me. I felt very uneasy, so
I put my head down.
He immediately grabbed me by the tip of my chin and lifted my
head back up. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with
me, even if you think it will hurt me.”
I developed a huge knot in my throat. From the look on my uncle’s
face, I could tell he was as serious as a fucking heart attack, and that he wanted
me to ask me something to do with Nikki.
I took a deep breath. “OK.” But on the inside, I was a nervous
wreck. It felt like I was about to be interrogated all over again, but by a loved
one this time. I gave him the most sincere expression I could muster, and then I
gave him my undivided attention.
He took a deep breath. “Can you tell me anything about Nikki’s
murder? I mean, the police don’t have any leads. And the motherfucker who did this
to my baby has to pay for it. So if you know anything or anyone she was messing
around with, please tell me.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Lanier, but I don’t know anything. When Nikki
and I got here, she and I didn’t live together long. She and I got into a big